


Quiet Tension

by WrtierJC



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27276814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrtierJC/pseuds/WrtierJC
Summary: Six heroes have a specific conversation at the end of their adventure
Kudos: 1





	Quiet Tension

The six legendary heroes of Skaia stood together at the edge of a torn and rent landscape. What once resembled a chessboard has been terraformed and shaped, then mutilated and sundered into the model of chaos it currently held. The world of Skaia had been set to ruin, all at the hands of the Dersites. Born of a world both infinitely far and all too close, the heroic trolls of Alternia were assembled at the edge of this shattered realm. They watched, from their own nook on the battlefield planet, as the war ended, and the forces of dark celebrated. The leader, a violet, was once some renowned lancer. The olive, a bearer of beasts, was his only confidant before and even during this arduous journey. The teal, a young attorney of the play-courts, the rust, a brick laying thrall, and the jade, a humble star gazer, were all close friends before all this world-shaking mayhem. That left the gold: a simple, lonely gardener before Alternia exploded. The gold stepped, Bardic bells jingling on her heels as she swaggered out into the open air. She sneered up at the free floating clouds, glaring against the bright light of the burning landscape and open sky. In those clouds, any Prospitian like her could see many things... Things that made her giggle! The past and future, her horrible home and this broken world, the light and dark moons from where all the soldiers of this war came, even the six quest worlds made just for her and her allies. She saw them all, and giggled whenever she was privy to the wasted remains of Alternia. She was a gardener, once, destined to be some device in the Alternian warmachine when she came of age... Then Skaia got its many horrible hands upon the friendly, shy shut-in and twisted her with prying words and nightmares of death to shock the brain until she blossomed into the wretched Bard that so many have dreaded. But she was still friendly! Her name was Sophek, and she was ready to finish this game they were playing. Ending the Black King will mean the completion of their goal: creating a brand new world, one in which they would rule as gods... She looked back, a wide, closed smile between her cheeks, and regarded the other five. The other heroes gave her a mix of looks between dread and disdain, as was now the norm. She sighed with nostalgia. Finally, after pretending to be cordial, kind and polite, they were making their discomfort with her obvious. It'd been obvious since she met them that she was the odd one out. Finally, they were admitting it. Took them long enough. Her tongue poked out the corner of her mouth. She giggled!

arborealSeditionary [AS] began addressing the party  
  
AS: >~<so!>~<  
AS: >~<shall we be off, then?>~<  
AS: >~<hehe!>~<  
AS: >~<...?>~<is that a no?>~<

Their leader, the violet lancer had a disgusted look, but his best friend soothed his snarl and started the discussion.

superlativeDamarchus [SD] joined the Address  
  
SD: [#]We're.all.ready.but.first...[#]  
SD: [#]The.others.and.I...[#]  


Their leader finally spoke, giving the last three a chance to approach without being noticed. They took his distraction to near the bard and, beyond her, the battlefield outside of their hidey hole.

sereneAuteur [SA] joined the Address  
  
SA: --/>we need to have a conversation.  
SA: --/>we need to talk, bard.  
AS: >~<hoho?>~<an honest to goodness conversation with me?>~<  
AS: >~<and from our noble prince no less!!!>~<hehe!>~<  
AS: >~<whatever could this be about?>~<  
SD: [#]There.has.been...[#]  
SD: [#]Implications[#]  
SD: [#]Implications.about.your.intent[#]  
SD: [#]Throughout.this.entire.journey.with.us...[#]  
SA: --/>spit it out.  
SD: [#]Right...Yes.Through.how.you.talk.and.act[#]  
SD: [#]We.have.started.to.wonder...[#]  
SD: [#]Do.you...Really.not.want.to.recreate.Alternia?[#]  
AS: >~<oh! is that what all this is about?>~<  
AS: >~<hehe!>~<  
AS: >~<you guys always crack me up. hehe>~<  
SA: --/>well?  
AS: >~<oh, yes>~<  
AS: >~<nope!>~<  
AS: >~<i have no intention to recreate alternia!>~<  
AS: >~<none at all!>~<  
  
damocloidAugor [DA] and demoniacSphinx [DS] joined the Address  
  
DA: Why ever not, dear?!~★  
DS: (Balance)DON'T B= SO CANDID WITH YOUR DISMISSAL. THAT'S OUR HOM= YOU'R= TALKING ABOUT, AFT=R ALL  
DS: (Balance)OUR LIV=S, OUR FRI=NDS, OUR PAST AND OUR ANC=STORS, TH= NOBL= HISTORY OF CONQU=ST AND TH= STRUGGL=S OUR P=OPL=S HAV= =NDUR=D  
DS: (Balance)IT'S NOT JUST SOM= ROCK WH=R= W= LIV=D, IT WAS OUR HOM=  
DS: (Balance)IT IS OUR HOM=  
AS: >~<and i hated it>~<  
AS: >~<i hated our society of...>~<  
AS: >~<hehe, survival of the fittest>~<if you aren't enough you die. if you are, you get used by the war machine to spread us across the galaxies>~<  
AS: >~<i hated our culture of brooding hooligans and their sycophantic slaves pretending to be rulers and valued servants>~<  
AS: >~<hehe! and i especially hate our history>~<  
AS: >~<all of this has just been happening over and over and over...>~<  
AS: >~<heh! for hundreds of thousands of sweeps!>~<  
  
ascendantDrudge [AD] joined the Address  
  
AD: Why are you, with us?  
AD: If you hated, Alternia, why are you, helping us?  
AS: >~<help?>~<  
AS: >~<i'm not helping you>~<  
AS: >~<if you were meant to recreate alternia, skaia wouldn't have put me in front of you>~<  
AD: ?  
SD: [#]!?[#]  
SA: --/>!  
DA: ...?!~★  
DS: (Balance)?  
AS: >~<haha the looks on your faces!>~<  
AS: >~<oh my gosh>~<  
AS: >~<you guys are always such a laugh riot i love it around here>~<  
AS: >~<okay okay i'll explain. or try to>~<hehe>~<  
AS: >~<okay>~<  
AS: >~<we aren't historians>~<i actively choose to forget all of alternia and you guys know next to nothing more than what you chose to know and learn>~<  
AS: >~<and even all that's just through the warped lenses of your life experiences>~<  
AS: >~<hehe>~<skaia didn't give any of us the powers to raise the dead>~<  
AS: >~<pst>~<  
AS: >~<(if anything we got better at killing)>~<  
AS: >~<hehe!>~<  
AS: >~<we don't have records of alternia, we don't have the means to fix all those dead bodies>~<  
AS: >~<heck, we don't even have any ways to contact dead spirits or ghosts>~<haha!>~<  
AS: >~<if we wanted to talk to the dead to learn, we can't, if we want to bring back the dead, we can't, if we wanted to rebuild as was, we don't know enough!>~<  
AS: >~<haha!>~<gosh, alternia is dead and gone!>~<  
SA: --/>stop.  
SA: --/>we can force all of that undone using the creation of the universe.  
SA: --/>ending the reckoning will result in-  
AS: >~<in what?>~<alternia already exploded oh noble lancer prince>~<  
SA: --/>no, the power of the black king can be used to undo all of everything you're talking about.  
SA: --/>we're making an entire universe, the frog.  
SA: --/>maid, the frog?  
SD: [#]Oh.my.Yes[#]  
SD: [#]Yes[#]  
SD: [#]He's.healthy.and.should.be.ready.to.hatch.in.about.three.hours[#]  
SD: [#]Plenty.of.time.for.us.to.settle.this.and...[#]  
SD: [#]Time.left.over.for.the.Black.King[#]  
SA: --/>...  
AD: ...  
DA: ...!~★  
DS: (Balance)...  
SD: [#]...[#]  
AS: >~<...hehe!>~<  
AS: >~<all a waste of time and energy>~<  
SA: --/>a wa-  
DA: She's right!~★  
DA: I know this pretty well...!~★ As it's my thing, and all!~★  
DA: The universe creation doesn't mean the resurrection of our race, it just means!~★  
DA: The creation of a universe!~★  
AD: I thought, we were rebuilding, Alternia, this whole time  
AD: What are we, doing, if not that?  
AS: >~<we're making a new world>~<  
AS: >~<a better one!>~<one that isn't our old shit sack!>~<hehe!>~<  
SA: --/>you're talking about our home!  
SA: --/>my home, you piece of shit clown!

Despite his outcry and the drawing of his lance (Galahad a Point), Sophek had no reason to fear the Prince. But for posterity, she grabbed her spade (Disturbed Plot) from her strife deck. She happily reciprocated the silent challenge, eager to show the Prince that she was taking his anger seriously. She loved showing the others that she 'took them seriously' when they got antsy. The truth was that she feared none of them. She had no reason to, not since she died already! She giggled and her legs bounced and the bells on her Bardic shoes jingled, while her long spade spun in her hands, twirled to show and finally poked the ground. She didn't fear them, but they feared her. She'd proven her overwhelming power, and that she could go toe to bell jingling toe with anything in Sburb. Sophek could... With some time to prepare, she could solo the Black King. The Prince knew that, from first hand experience, how incredibly tough it was to kill a clown who's already died. She giggled and gripped the long handle of her spade, squatting and smirking at the Prince. Her tights-painted legs spread out and her heavy hips swayed as she giggled some more. She was in the same pose as she was the last time she and the Prince fought, where she held back. It was also the same pose she was in when she slew her own Denizen, Nemesis, as Prince watched from a screen. She figured this pose had some qualities as an intimidation factor at that point, and by the way he stood back and waited for his slave-squire to join with his dangling chains (the name eluded her), it was working. She giggled.

sereneAuteur [SA] resumed the Address  
  
SA: --/>i was ready to fight something horrible today, a monster beyond all monsters, if i had to.  
SA: --/>i'm also ready to kill the black king today.  
SA: --/>you're insane and present a very real danger to the new alternia. we have to stop you-  
DA: No!~★  
SA: --/>no?  
DA: No, I agree with our Bard!~★  
SA: --/>w- what! what the fuck do you mean?  
DA: I...!~★ Can see it, but not explain it!~★  
DS: (Balance)I CAN.  
DS: (Balance)THE FACTS LINE UP. SHE'S PRESENTED ISSUES WITH HISTORY, BODIES, SOULS  
DS: (Balance)WE HAVE NO SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER THAT ANY OF THOSE PROBLEMS HAVE ANSWERS  
SA: --/>nor does she.  
SA: --/>she's blowing steam and getting us to give up on what we want for what she wants.  
SA: --/>she's a selfish, insane clown.  
SA: --/>i know of a way to fix this, that she's not acknowledging.  
AS: >~<hehe>~<  
SA: --/>shut up!  
SA: --/>we can, instead of wasting time on making a new universe.  
SA: --/>use the frog to rebuild alternia.  
DA: What did you-!~★  
DA: Who told you you can do that?!~★  
SA: --/>i finished my quest. like her. unlike her, i didn't skewer myself at the end on my lance.  
AS: >~<heh, barely felt it>~<  
SA: --/>silence, clown.  
SA: --/>i finished my quest, i have every power i could possibly have without entering god tier.  
SA: --/>i capped out the escheladder.  
SA: --/>i have the ability, the power, to abort the frog, and use it's corpse to undo everything that happened.  
AS: >~<you could!>~<  
DA: You can?!~★  
AS: >~<he could!>~<  
SD: [#]After.all.that.work,.huh?.Heh...[#]  
AS: >~<could work!>~<hehe!>~<  
SA: --/>what's so funny now?  
AS: >~<it's not a guarantee that you'll succeed>~<we have a guarantee that we can make a new, alternia-free universe, but you don't care about that!>~<  
AS: >~<i just think it's funny you're so caught up in your precious memories that you can't see the truth, thinking that your shithole planet of shitty barbarians is worth sacrificing...>~<  
AS: >~<sacrificing infinite possibilities!>~<  
AS: >~<hehe! you guys always crack me up...>~<  
SD: [#]...Hehe[#]  
SA: --/>don't laugh.  
SD: [#]Sorry,.sorry.I.am.just.relieved[#]  
DS: (Balance)YOUR PLAN SOUNDS LIKE IT CAN WORK. W='R= ALL RELIEVED, A LITTL= BIT OF LAUGHTER IS A NORMAL R=ACTION  
DS: (Balance)JUST TAKE A BR=ATH  
SA: --/>yeah...  
AS: >~<hehe>~<  
SA: --/>yeah?  
AS: >~<you're taking a chance on a guess versus my cold hard truth>~<  
AS: >~<you're obsessed with trying things instead of admitting that going with what will and must happen will make your life easier>~<  
AD: Why, are you here?  
SA: --/>...my page?  
AD: Sir, the Bard, can't be trusted  
SA: --/>no. no she cannot  
AD: Why are you, here if you know, we all hate you, and want you, to just go away?  
AD: Why are you here, right here, right now, if-  
DS: (Balance)PL=AS=-  
SA: --/>let him.  
SA: --/>speak, squire, admonish the clown.  
AD: We can save, Alternia and, bring everything, back to normal, if we follow our, Prince's plan. He has the power, to undo all the damage, done to our past, and create a new future  
AD: I will do, whatever I must, to give him, the chance he needs, even if it means, I have to chain you, up myself  
SA: --/>and he won't be alone in locking you up.  
SA: --/>i'm here to resurrect alternia. i have the means, and we have the strength to stop you from interfering.  
AS: >~<hehe!>~<  
SA: --/>that has to be your best joke yet, brother!>~<hehe!  
AS: >~<that has to be your best joke yet brother hehe>~<  
SA: --/>...  
AD: ...Sir?  
SA: --/>...?  
AD: Your orders?  
SA: --/>right.  


The Prince's hands twisted along the haft and body of his lance as he snarled down at their Bard. The clown mocked him with her swaying hips and smug grin. After accidentally glancing at her crotch, he groaned and rolled his eyes. He shook his head as his squire, the Page, began whirling his rusted chains (Iron Binds). The simple sounds of links rattling against each other and the following whirl of air - it all brought some comfort to him. Not enough comfort. Nothing would be enough comfort to go against her after last time with any kind of undue confidence. The damage he'd incurred. He was glad she only recently switched to the serrated spade heads. Not any other troll had ever challenged him like her... The Bard was so powerful, especially now that she'd died. He'd watched her when she didn't bother holding back, he watched her duel and overcome her denizen, Nemesis, a being of Doom. She gave death to Death. And she wanted to give a show of death to his goal of returning his home, returning his people. He had to give her death. His sharp teeth ground together, his wet palms squeezed the brilliantly perfect metal of Galahad a Point. It was so light, and flew so true. It could give her death. It could maybe give her death. His gaze drifted to his squire again, and his eyes flew wide. He saw nothing but confidence in the Page's mongrel face. He wasn't unnerved by the Bard. He was ready to give her the death she insisted they all take, whether it was in show or in force. His squire was ready to give the wretched Bard death. He was a noble lancer, he was ready to give the wretched Bard death. They were ready to give the Bard the death she needed to stop her.

sereneAuteur [SA] resumed the Address  
  
SA: --/>...right.  
AS: >~<are you ready to fight then? are we actually doing this?>~<  
AS: >~<or are you done with your temper tantrum?>~<  
AS: >~<our date with the king awaits good prince>~<  
SA: --/>i am ready.  
SA: --/>we're going to put a stop to you, here and now.  
SA: --/>we're giving you the death you crave, clown.  
AS: >~<hehe>~<  
AS: >~<okay then tell me your joke prince!>~<  
AS: >~<and deliver on the punchline!>~<  


**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for the XYZ homestuck forum contest. I hope you enjoyed, and have a good day!  
> c^:


End file.
